Heat sink fin structure

ABSTRACT

A heat sink fin structure includes a fin assembly and a protection unit. The fin assembly includes multiple radiating fins and an outside radiating fin. The outside radiating fin has a first main body. The protection unit has a second main body. 
     The first main body has at least one first protrusion edge. The second main body has at least one second protrusion edge. The second protrusion edge is assembled with the first protrusion edge so as to minimize the possibility of injury to an operator due to the exposed first protrusion edge. Also, the fin structure can be reinforced and the production efficiency of the fin structure can be promoted by means of the protection unit.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heat sink fin structure, and moreparticularly to a heat sink fin structure including a fin assembly and aprotection unit. The protection unit is assembled with an outsideradiating fin of the fin assembly to minimize the possibility of injuryto an operator due to the exposed outside radiating fin. Also, the finstructure can be reinforced and the production efficiency of the finstructure can be promoted by means of the protection unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Following the advance of the electronic technique, electronic componentshave higher and higher operation efficiency. To catch up this trend, thefunctional requirements for the heat sinks have become higher andhigher. Most of the conventional heat sinks have adopted stacked finassemblies for enhancing heat dissipation effect. Many manufacturershave devoted to the research and development of high-efficiency heatsinks and tried to provide improved heat sinks with higher heatdissipation effect.

With a computer host taken as an example, the central processing unit(CPU) in the computer host generates most of the heat generated by thecomputer host in operation. In case the heat is not efficientlydissipated, the temperature of the CPU will rise very quickly to causedeterioration of the execution efficiency. When the accumulated heatexceeds a tolerable limit, the computer will crash or even burn down insome more serious cases. Moreover, for solving the problem ofelectromagnetic radiation, the computer host is often enclosed in acomputer case. This will affect the dissipation of the heat generated bythe computer host. Therefore, it has become a critical issue how toquickly conduct out and dissipate the heat generated by the CPU andother heat-generating components.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional fin assembly 1 composed of multipleradiating fins 11. The radiating fins 11 are made of thin metal sheetsby cutting. Two ends of each radiating fin 11 are bent to form twofolded edges 111 in abutment with an upper plane face 112 an adjacentradiating fin 11. Accordingly, the radiating fins 11 can be stacked toform the fin assembly 1. The folded edges 111 of two ends of theradiating fin 11 and the upper plane face 112 define a heat dissipationspace 113.

According to the above arrangement, the outermost radiating fin 11 isopen and the folded edges 111 of the outermost radiating fin 11 areexposed to outer side. The radiating fins 11 are made of thin metalsheets by cutting. Therefore, the exposed folded edges 111 of the finassembly 1 tend to cause injury to an operator in operation and lowerthe production efficiency. Also, the exposed folded edges 111 of the finassembly 1 are likely to bend and deform due to collision. Accordingly,the conventional fin assembly 1 has the following shortcomings:

1. The conventional fin assembly is likely to cause injury to anoperator in operation.

2. The conventional fin assembly is produced at lower productionefficiency.

3. The conventional fin assembly is likely to deform due to collision.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a heat sink finstructure including a fin assembly and a protection unit. The protectionunit is assembled with an outside radiating fin of the fin assembly toblock the open space defined by the outside radiating fin so as tominimize the possibility of injury to an operator due to the exposedoutside radiating fin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the above heatsink fin structure, which is reinforced by means of the protection unitto promote the production efficiency of the heat sink fin structure.

To achieve the above and other objects, the heat sink fin structure ofthe present invention includes a fin assembly and a protection unit. Thefin assembly is composed of multiple radiating fins that are stacked andassembled with each other. The fin assembly includes an outsideradiating fin having a first main body. The first main body has at leastone first protrusion edge protruding from the first main body in astacking direction. The protection unit has a second main body. Thesecond main body has at least one second protrusion edge protruding tothe outside radiating fin. The second protrusion edge is assembled withthe first protrusion edge to form the heat sink fin structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present inventionto achieve the above and other objects can be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional radiating fin structure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of a first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective assembled view of the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a side assembled view of the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a side assembled view of a second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a side assembled view of a third embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 7 is a side assembled view of a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. According to a first preferredembodiment, the heat sink fin structure 2 of the present inventionincludes a fin assembly 3 and a protection unit 4. The fin assembly 3 iscomposed of multiple radiating fins 31 that are stacked and assembledwith each other. Each radiating fin 31 has a plane face 311 on one side.Two ends of the radiating fin 31 are bent to form two folded edges 312defining therebetween a channel 313. The folded edges 312 abut againstthe plane face 311 of an adjacent radiating fin 31, whereby theradiating fins 31 are stacked and assembled with each other. The planeface 311 of the adjacent radiating fin 31 blocks the channel 313. Thefin assembly 3 includes an outside radiating fin 32 having a first mainbody 321. The first main body 321 has at least one first protrusion edge3211 outward protruding from the first main body 321 in the stackingdirection. The first protrusion edge 3211 has at least one firstconnection section 3212. The first protrusion edges 3211 definetherebetween an open space 3213.

In this embodiment, the protection unit 4 is a reverse radiating finassembled with the outside radiating fin 32. The protection unit 4 has asecond main body 41. The second main body 41 has at least one secondprotrusion edge 411 protruding to the outside radiating fin 32. Thesecond protrusion edge 411 has at least one second connection section412. The second protrusion edge 411 is assembled with the firstprotrusion edge 3211 by means of engagement, adhesion, insertion orpress fit. The protection unit 4 blocks the open space 3213 defined bythe outside radiating fin 32 to form the heat sink fin structure 2.

In this embodiment, the first connection section 3213 of the firstprotrusion edge 3211 of the outside radiating fin 32 is a hole, whilethe second connection section 412 of the second protrusion edge 411 ofthe protection unit 4 is a key section formed on outer side of thesecond protrusion edge 411. After the multiple radiating fins 31 and theoutside radiating fin 32 are stacked to form the fin assembly 3, thefirst protrusion edge 3211 of the outside radiating fin 32 protrudesfrom the fin assembly 3. The outside radiating fin 32 defines the openspace 3213. The first protrusion edge 3211 has an outer side and aninner side. When the protection unit 4 is connected with the outsideradiating fin 32, the protection unit 4 is assembled with the inner sideof the first protrusion edge 3211 of the outside radiating fin 32 withthe second connection section 412 of the second protrusion edge 411connected with the first connection section 3212 of the first protrusionedge 3211. That is, the key section of the second connection section 412is inserted in the hole of the first connection section 3212, wherebythe protection unit 4 can effectively block the open space 3213 of theoutside radiating fin 32. In this case, the possibility of injury to anoperator due to the exposed first protrusion edge 3211 can be minimized.Also, the structure can be reinforced and the production efficiency ofthe fin structure 2 can be promoted.

Please now refer to FIGS. 2 and 5, which show a second embodiment of thepresent invention. The second embodiment is substantially identical tothe first embodiment in structure and connection relationship betweenthe components and thus will not be repeatedly described hereinafter.The second embodiment is only different from the first embodiment inthat the protection unit 4 is assembled with the outer side of the firstprotrusion edge 3211. The key section of the second connection section412 is formed on an inner side of the second protrusion edge 411. Whenthe protection unit 4 is assembled with the outside radiating fin 32,the key section of the second connection section 412 is inserted in thehole of the first connection section 3212 of the first protrusion edge3211. In this case, the protection unit 4 can also effectively block theopen space 3213 of the outside radiating fin 32.

Please now refer to FIGS. 2, 6 and 7, which show a third embodiment ofthe present invention. The third embodiment is substantially identicalto the first embodiment in structure and connection relationship betweenthe components and thus will not be repeatedly described hereinafter.The third embodiment is only different from the first embodiment in thatthe protection unit 4 has a top section and a bottom section. The topsection is assembled with the inner side of the first protrusion edge3211, while the bottom section is assembled with the outer side of thefirst protrusion edge 3211. Similarly, when the protection unit 4 isassembled with the outside radiating fin 32, the key section of thesecond connection section 412 is inserted in the hole of the firstconnection section 3212, whereby the protection unit 4 can alsoeffectively block the open space 3213 of the outside radiating fin 32.Alternatively, the top section of the protection unit is assembled withthe outer side of the first protrusion edge 3211, while the bottomsection is assembled with the inner side of the first protrusion edge3211. Similarly, when the protection unit 4 is assembled with theoutside radiating fin 32, the key section of the second connectionsection 412 is inserted in the hole of the first connection section3212, whereby the protection unit 4 can also effectively block the openspace 3213 of the outside radiating fin 32. Accordingly, the possibilityof injury to an operator due to the exposed first protrusion edge 3211can be minimized. Also, the fin structure can be reinforced and theproduction efficiency of the fin structure 2 can be promoted.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention,not intended to limit the scope thereof. It is understood that manychanges and modifications of the above embodiments can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present invention. The scope of thepresent invention is limited only by the appended claims.

1. A heat sink fin structure comprising: a fin assembly composed ofmultiple radiating fins that are stacked and assembled with each other,the fin assembly including an outside radiating fin having a first mainbody, the first main body having at least one first protrusion edgeprotruding from the first main body in a stacking direction; and aprotection unit having a second main body, the second main body havingat least one second protrusion edge protruding to the outside radiatingfin, the second protrusion edge being assembled with the firstprotrusion edge.
 2. The heat sink fin structure as claimed in claim 1,wherein the second main body of the protection unit has at least onesecond connection section for connecting with the first protrusion edge.3. The heat sink fin structure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the firstprotrusion edge has a first connection section positioned where thesecond connection section is positioned for connecting with the secondconnection section.
 4. The heat sink fin structure as claimed in claim3, wherein the second connection section is a key section, while thefirst connection section is a hole, whereby when the protection unit isassembled with the first protrusion edge, the key section is inserted inthe hole.
 5. The heat sink fin structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe second protrusion edge is assembled with the first protrusion edgeby means of engagement, adhesion, insertion or press fit.
 6. The heatsink fin structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protection unit isa reverse radiating fin assembled with the fin assembly.
 7. The heatsink fin structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first protrusionedges of the outside radiating fin define an open space.
 8. The heatsink fin structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protection unit isassembled with an inner side or an outer side of the first protrusionedge.
 9. The heat sink fin structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein theprotection unit has a top section and a bottom section, the top sectionbeing assembled with the inner side of the first protrusion edge, whilethe bottom section is assembled with the outer side of the firstprotrusion edge.
 10. The heat sink fin structure as claimed in claim 1,wherein the protection unit has a top section and a bottom section, thetop section being assembled with the outer side of the first protrusionedge, while the bottom section is assembled with the inner side of thefirst protrusion edge.